~ Making Meaning, Making Soul

Monthly Archives: March 2015

Life has been busy; my dear body has needed rest: stubbed (broken?) toe, pulled back muscle, regular aches and pains, etc. I haven’t been able to write much that is new lately. I did just finish a month-long e-course called “Riding the Winds of Change: A Luscious Life as a Female Elder”, and sent the group a favorite quote of mine from Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes. May it bless you today with visions of what really IS going on in your life, within and invisible!

“Listen Dearie:

“Never underestimate the endurance of the wise old woman. Despite being torn or treated unfairly, she carries another self, a primary, radiant and incorruptible self beneath the beleaguered self — an illumined self that is ever whole. The wise old woman is certain to have a twenty-foot wing span hidden under her coat, and a folded-up forest in her long pocket. Certainly, seven-league gold lame slippers might be found under her bed. And, through her spectacles, almost everything that can be seen, will be seen. The little carpet before her fire may truly be a flying one. Her shawl, when unfurled, likely has the capacity to either bring on the hounds of hell, or else to call up the starriest of starry nights. She cackles as she sails across the heavens in the half-shell of her own broken heart. Her feathers lift, for she is ever learning love. She falls toward the breath of anything that sings and seeks to protect the soul of everything. Songbirds tell her the hidden news; thus she has “the magic eye” that sees beyond and behind the present. Like her human counterpart, she most likely lives near a cherished river . . or else, she herself, simply is one. . . ”

For the Friday prompt this week, I invite you to listen for and to acknowledge all of the knowledge and wisdom that is already within you.

Think of your dear body. Draw a full page outline of your body (sure, she can be your ideal body if you want) and bring your attention to each part of yourself starting with your toes. Scan slowly, and ask each part of your dear body if it has anything to say to you. Write down any insights you have as you think of your toes, then ankles, then calves. Write it right on the outline, just a few words. As you move your attention from each part of your body to the next, say a little thank you to that part for supporting you, for working properly — or add a bunch of compassion if it’s not working healthily. Take your time with this, and consciously try to relax each section of your body as you move your attention to it. Relax and listen. Include your internal organs, too!

If that’s all you want to do right now, stop. Have a glass of water and move on into the next part of your day.

If you have some more time, though, draw another outline and mark the energy centers, or chakras, with circles or spirals. Red for your root (at the base of your perineum), orange for your sexual organs, yellow for your solar plexus, green for your heart, sky blue for your throat, indigo blue for your “third eye”, and purple for your crown, located just an inch or so above your head. Now starting at your root, ask yourself what your survival self might have to say to you. Do you have concerns about basic survival issues: food, housing, feeling like you have the right to be here? If so, or if you hear anything from your intuition about this aspect of your life, write it down. Move through your energy centers, asking, listening, recording, honoring, thanking. How is your sexual self? How are you relating to sexual intimacy, whether partnered or by yourself? What about sensuality? At your solar plexus, ask about your sense of personal power. At your heart, about love. Do you feel loved in your life? Are you sharing your own love with others? At your throat center, clear your throat, then hum a little. Are you expressing yourself as you would like to at this time of your life? Are you aching to say something, but refrain? Why? Now at your “third eye”, what do you see? What do you see in certain people, in certain situations? Let yourself see and know what you know. At your crown, ask about your openness to transcendence, your spiritual connections. Is there anything that this part of you wants you to put into words and write down?

Take a few deep breaths, have a glass of water. Reflect on what you wrote. Is there anything you felt that you haven’t yet recorded? Even if you don’t quite have the words right now, try just a word or two, or even leave a space or draw an empty box in order to express your wordlessness.

On another day, go through other systems of organization that you know about, such as the four directions (or seven, or eight directions, depending on how you’ve learned about these symbolic systems). Ask yourself what you know that you haven’t yet been acknowledging about these symbolic areas of life experience.

Metaphorically ask each part of yourself “How’s it going? Anything new? Do you need anything?”

Ask the different voices in your psyche the same questions. We all have our “on the one hand” and “on the other hand” voices. Too many of us have voices of other people within us who criticize us or demand too much. Some of us are lucky enough to have the voices of those who have loved and encouraged us within ourselves. Hopefully, all of us can hear the quiet voice within us of our True Self —- at least, if we listen for that voice.

Doing these kinds of scans regularly, whether every day, every week, every month, or every few years can be really helpful in owning whatever wisdom we’ve been accumulating through our life experience or through our conscious study. It will help us pay attention to areas of our bodies or our lives that are needing help in some way. It will help us to either balance out our lives, if that’s what’s needed, or else to acknowledge areas of particular concentration for a phase or for a season. It will also give us information about where we might most effectively direct our energy into the world around us. After all, “my” is “our”, ultimately.

It’s my intention to offer journal prompts on most Fridays. Many of us have a little bit more time on the weekends to play in our journals; many of us take a little time on Sundays for some Depth Dimension exploration; many of us take a Sabbath on either Saturdays or Sundays. So I’d like to offer a question or suggestion to add to your reflections, something to help you explore life and create meaning from the raw material of every day.

This week’s question is related to my process in creating “Listening for the Red Thread”, both the painting and the poem:

What issue in your life do you have a push-pull relationship with? What issue do you do a “on the one hand. . . . , but on the other hand. . . . ” with? Is there something you’d like to do, but as soon as you think of it, another voice in your head warns you against going too far in that direction? Is there an issue in your life that you know you need to find a balance in, but that balance has so far been very elusive? Write out the issue as clearly as you can, then write a letter to yourself accessing the voice of your inner wise self to answer the dilemma. Or, imagine that the Sacred, or a guide, teacher, or saint is responding to you, and write what they would tell you.

An example is the inquiry at the heart of this painting and poem. In my inner world I’ve so often gone back and forth between “I need to rest and take care of myself; with chronic illness and pain, it’s the most responsible action to take. Besides, my body is crying out for it,” and “You don’t need to get lazy about this, Cat. Yes, be good to yourself, but you shouldn’t get selfish about your needs. There is still so much that you can, and should, get done. Keep working as hard as you can.”

The result of this push-pull is that I’m either working too hard or I’m feeling guilty about not working hard enough. It’s not a pleasant state to be in, to put it mildly. Now, rationally I can work it all out, but feelings-wise, well, it seems my feelings have a life of their own which do not care all that much about my well worked out rational conclusions.

So I bring it to the canvas. I write my intention on the canvas before creating my portal of the sacred heart, and as words came to me, or questions or images, I record them in my journal. I include the words “compassion”, “rest”, “quiet”, and “contemplation” in the painting. After I finish the painting I write out the words, questions and images that came up for me during the painting onto a new piece of paper, then just sit with them for awhile. Slowly, the poem is created. It was a surprise to me that it came out in the second person; I think it’s the voice of my loving observer self, my wise woman within.

I don’t expect that I’ll never feel the push-pull again, but I do know that something got worked out within my psyche. I also have the physical evidence of having reflected deeply on this question, and receiving an answer from a very deep part of myself. If the questions turn up again, I’ll ponder my painting and poem, and hopefully, know then what is best to do.

Now, your turn. I would love it if you post your response in the comments, if it’s not too terribly personal.

ENTERING THE LABYRINTH

You can’t get lost!

Will you enter the labyrinth to meet your Muse, the figure of your Inner Guidance? Imagine what it would feel like to use Intentional Creativity as your tool for joyfully playing with image, color, and word to get to know this Muse within you!

What will happen when you allow both sides of your brain, the logical language side and the image filled, colorful side, to speak to yourself and to the world? Explore the way of Intentional Creativity to access your inner wisdom of juicy color and possibility.

Join me in:

Red Thread Circle

Labyrinth teachings

Labyrinth Creation and Meditation

Writing a letter to your Muse, your Inner Guidance figure

Written inquiry and invitation to write poetry

Painting a first image of your Muse.

You will leave with images of 2 types of labyrinths, a prose poem, and an 11” x 15” outline painting full of luminous color. No art experience necessary at all!

We will meet in the Red Thread Study in my home in Lethbridge. All supplies are provided. Since I work with microgroups (2-5 people) or individually, there will be plenty of time for individualized attention.

Your investment: $150, or if two or more register at the same time, $99 each.

I am deeply committed to making this work accessible to those who want to participate; if finances are a barrier, contact me for work exchange or scholarship possibilities.